Mixing process and apparatus therefor



April 14, 1925.

V. H. SCHLICH MIXING PROCESS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 18

INVENTOR Meme 5 SCHL/CH ATTORNEYS WIHHHIIIIM. XII l April 14, 1925. 7 1,533,950

V. H. SCHLICH MIXING PROCESS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Aug. 18, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l 1 za 1 if I l l i i I INVENTOR V/croe HS'o/IMCH J 11 BY virtually different strata of material.

Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

UN-m vIoron-H."sonLronfor sournornu, eammnrfassreuon To 'e'ri'o 1s? amnion; or

MIXING PROCESS AND APPARATUS ITHEREFORT Application filed August 18, 1921.; Serial No..493;409.

TocZZ whom it may concern .i

Be it lgnownthat I, Vro'ron .H. SoHLIorr,

a-citizen of Germany,and resident of Southerection of a building is that in which a mixer is utilized by means of which the concrete 01' other materialmay be prepared subsequent to which the mixture is elevated to the desired extent, subsequent to which the same'isagain transported.manually to the point atwhich it is to be allowed to t I I I The most modern method however, has been tha-t in which themixture is prepared in the apparatus as aitoredescribed, subseqnentto which the mixture is hoisted in a bucket. or other conveyor, :from which this mixture is poured into a hopper connected to one oi 'a series of distributing chutes thronghwhich it flows to the point at which it is to be distributed. I

In practicing these two methods it has been found that the greatest amount of work, and consequentlywexpense isinvolved in properly mixing the concrete or mortar, and in subsequently transporting the same to the points at which it is to be allowed to set, this being particularly the case where the point at which the mixture is to be deposited is relatively remote from the mixing machine, or other apparatus utilized for the preparation oi the same. i

in this latter instance a further dillicult y is experienced in that the mixed ingredients forming the completed mixture includes a relatively great amount of water, and it will be found that the conveyor utilized for transporting the mixture will be filled with In this connection it is quite often noticed that an upper strata of water will be presented elow whi h the cem ntand. sand w ll'li i" 4.. 3,: new: the cement in turn resting upomarstr ata of :coarse material such; itsgravel, .etoa :1:

- Therefore ;it has been found nvheii this occurs that upon the receptacle being dumped topour the .mixture that the, water will primarilyiflow from thereceptacli subsequent towlrich the moistened cement; sand will-be .remqvedfronr the same, this in turn. being, followedibyaillfirser, material,

s l i h iion l pr sai ai mea which is far from satisfactory, and iri 'pera-in n a ce im y cause a week e ngie the entire Structure beingibuiltw 1, .TlllS diiiicultyvis particularly, noticeable in connectionwith the second;proces,,,it,b'e-

'ing found thatthe water will .gi ishfthrough the distributing chutes, followed hylthe sticky mass ofisand and:,ceme igfthelconise material! trickling slowly afte'rjthe cement, and in some instancesinecessitating outside assistance to permit of its continuing; "tgfiblw down the-chutes 1' ii}? 'lVith this in mind my ,presentfinvention aims to provide an advanceinotlie art,.oyer both the relatively, modernmethods-,de

scribed in the preceding paragraphs, nyinvention furthermore ,prov-iding aprocess, and apparatus which iscommercially,adaptable.

A further object of,myiinyention isfthe provision of a process ,andudeviceloffithe character set forth, by meansofgwhielif the conventional mixing apparatus, l-heretofore utilized may. be dispensedwithi Still-another.object of this. ini'eirtidh n tl1e-' prov i sion1 of a process and-apparatus for the mixing ofmateriala sucluaslcement and mortar, and by meansof ,which the diificulties incident to the mixture separating partly; into its component .,elements,.wilibe avoided, thus-insuring an even'qiia litj-ipf material, resulting in, the construction undertaken being of uniformstrengjth throughout. i

that (it-providing a process amlnipparatus by means of which all guess work, incident to the preparation of a mixture will he eliminated in that eaclrbatcluof material willcontain exactly the correct proportion of ingredients mixed together for. a :predetermined length of time to insure of ump mduction of a mixture of correct consistency. Still other objects of my invention will become apparent in the specification. taken A still further objeet of this'invention I "4, and

'tion of, the a Figure 1 is a side View of the apparatus utilized and showing the partsof the. same.

in their normal position.

parts assume when the mixture has been prepared.

Figure 3 shows the application'of my ap paratus to a building while in the course of construction; T i

Figure 4 is a partly fragmentary front view of the apparatus asillustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view .takenalong the line "5' 5' and in the direction of the arrows'indicatedin Figure ,4.

'Figurefi is 'anjenlarge d sectional view tak'enalong the hue (t -G and 1n the dlrecrows also'mdic'ated 1n Figure Figures 7 and ,8 sho'wlmy apparatus asin Figure 4 but illustratinga slightly different arrangement of the lifting elements for a purpose hereinafter set forthl;

The theory, involved in method and apparatus i that the I'ihgre dients forming the completed iniifture p'o'ur directly into a mixing t1'oi1gl1,"ancl'tl1e latter elevated, the ingredients being simultaneously stirred, and having a t1a'ntity of water mixed with them if this isdesired, in the final'sta'ges of'this stirring action the mixing trough reaching the plane at which its contents are to be removed'just at that instant at which the mixture has reached its desired consistency, andbeing distributed (preferably automatically) directly to "the pointsat which it is to be finally disposed;

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1 and i it will be seen that the reference numeral 10 indicates a framework or scaffolding of any desirable. type capable of acting as a guide for an elevator carriage 11 by preferably furnishing 'r'a-ils 12 adapted to co-operate with guiderollers or similar elements 13 rotatably secured, to the carriage 11. V

Referring more particularly to'theisaid carriage it will be seen that the trough memer 14 is swingingly carriedupon a shaft 15 extending between the lower ends of the carriage 11 by means of links 16 havingone of their ends secured to said. shaft their opposite ends encirclingsaid stubshafts 17 extending from the side walls of the said trough. I

Vith a view of providing means which will normally prevent any movement of the trough with respect to the carriage 11' it will also be noted that I utilize a pair of hooks 18 having their shanks pivotally affixed as at 19 to the side members of the carriage, the hook portions thereof enciri-levelxofzzthe supporting surface.

cling the stub shafts 17 and thus supporting the center of the trough 14 to one side of the carriage '11.

' According to my improved method the .troughmember l i rests in its charging posi- .-;.-tion in a ditch 20 so that the upper edges of Flgure 2 shows the position which these this member lie at a point adjacent to the By this arrangement the work of the operators is facilitated in that wheelbarrows or other suitable conveying means may have their contents readily dumped into the trough 14.

The proper amount of sand, gravel, cementor other ingredients forming the mixture may thus be poured into the trough 14:

with the'expenditure of a minimum amountof energy, and to provide a mechanism which will serve to tooroughly stir the ingredients together, it will be noted, reference being had to Figure 1 that I afiix a "paddle 21 or blades to the stub shafts 17,

this blade having its ends attired one to the 'inner'en'ds of said stub shafts so that upon theseshaftsbeing rotated the mixture-will he vigorously stlrred and its ingredients thoroughly lntermingled; The paddle is of' a distorted'S-shape asshown in Figure 4:, the function of which is to provide a disturbance'of the material alternately at the sides of the trough. -The.extren'1e portions ofthe S paddle are 180 apart, and the rcader can readily picture the action.

Now with a view of furnishing means which will actuate the paddle blade 21, and a simultaneous elevating of the carriage 11,

it will be seen, in the embodiment illustrated,

that a drum 22 is aflixcd to one of the stub shafts 17, and this drum mounts when the carriage 11 is in its lowered position coils of cables or rod 2. 3, the end of which 1s passed over a pulley 24 secured to the upper part of the framework 10, and connected to a power elevating mechanism (not I shown).

Further the elevating drums 24 are scoured preferably one to each of the stub shafts 17 and in the arrangement of the cable 25, illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, this the upper end of the framework 10, and

thence downwardly, its opposite end being secured to the second elevating dru m, it being noted in this connection that the coils of the cable 25 disposed upon both of the drums 24:, are arranged in opposed relationship to the coils of the cable 23 ll'l2l]l,) '((i upon the drum 22.

' Thus assuming that a pull is exerted by the hoisting machinery upon the cable 23 it will be appreciated that this pull will primarily result in a rotation of the drum 22, and a consequential turning of the mechanism member or paddle 21. This rotation will also obviously result in a rot tion of the loo stub shaft 17 and lay-virtue of the fact that these members fixedly carry the elevating drums 24 in turn havingthef'coils 'of'the cable 25 dispose'dupon' them, in opposedrelationshipto the mannerin which theflcoils of the cable23 aredisposed upon-the drum 22 that the 'cablef25 Will-fbeavound upon the drum 2 t. This-action ivill-necessitatea climbingof the elevating drums upon the cable 25-,';and =by '\"irtu'e" ofthefact that these drums are connected to the carriage -1='l it'will be underst-ood that the enti'1'e'="c'arriage Wtill? be elevated- Further it' w i'll be understood that; the morethe ingredients within the misting trough 145 are stirred; the more readily willthe paddle 21- be capable of forcing its-body through the mass. Tlie common practice 'is to 'dumpthe various ingredients 1'n'tothe-trougl1, for example the gra 'eL sand; cement and water; then-start agitating them- At first it will be difficult to" ferce' the paddle through the ma$ and therefore -the operating arrangement is's'uc'h of insuring the thorough commingling 0f the materials-when they-are about to-be conducted to the'mol d; lVit-h a: View of availing myself of this factitwill be seen that the speed of rotation of the mechanism member 21 will be increased the further the carriege 11 moves from the ground in that the thickness of the convolutions of the cable 23 will be decreased, thus increasing the speed of rotation of the drum 22, the more the cable 23 is unwound therefrom.

'lo now provide nieansnhich will serve lo automatically introduce water intothe mixture, after the latter has been stirredfor just the proper length of time, itavill be seen that the carriage ll carrics'a tank 27 arranged above the trough 14,and this tank is adapted to contain a predetermined amount of Water normallyprevented from flowing therefrom through a perforated pipe by means of a valve 29,- as has been illustrated in Figure 6. This'valve is preferably operated by a handle 30, which latter extends to a point adjacent the side n'ieinhers of th carriage l1. At a predetermined distance from the ground, a stop 3L lies adjacent the rails 12 ofthe framework 10, and upon the carriage 11 being QlGWLtQdi O the proper extent, the handle 30 will bear against the stop 31 resulting in an opening of the valve and a spraying of the water from the tank 27 through the perforations of the pipe 28, the paddle 21 stirring the mixture Within the trough 14. with constantly increasing speed. The spray pipe extends at least over one-dimension of-ithe trouglr, in this -instance onlythe -length. l

Now with :a "View of providing aneans iserving to dump the trouglr1 4,' a secondary stop 32 is iprovided at i a predeterminedi point above -th e stop- 31, and this -'secondar vstop adapted to engage witlr that portion of ='the=shankof f the: hook .18; which extends beyond the point; r of pivotali attachment F 19'.

- stub shafts -'1 7, a t-each sidmb f the f trough. thus permitting the i la l3t8Ij tO "be mocked around th'e' shaft 15 by means of the links 11 6 connecting thesaine-itheretoi l w 1 i I Rails are preferably utilized 5 at tlie-ipoint at- -wliiclr- 'the-trough letg is dumped; Thus a member 33 pre'senting' 'anup' randlowTer rail 34 is affixed to the slde members of'the thus swinging thehoolc'portion of each of F these members out of engagement WllZll' the frame '10, th'e upper rail preferablyeeittnd- 35 "ingb eyond the lower rail and-'into-tthe path of travel of :the buter endi of the trough. '14, at which I point 1 the 5 t-rouglr 14:311as1 nrollers 35 secured-"to: it.---' The outer-1 end foil? the 'shanks ofirthe'hooks 18-wi1tthus contacthvith the secondary "stop =32 thereby! efi'ecting a release of the? hooks andby tii-rtiie" 0t 1 the fact that the stub-:shafts/ate to oneisidedof tl1e' rails12:thisiwill cause the line otipull afiorded' by the elevating drums*24.anthcable 25 to immediately' throwathe' oiiter- -endsof .the trough forward so thatthewrbllers; 35 will :contact with the upper rails 3-1-'.-' a'nd' the 'zentire' trough- Will be tilted to the'pos'ition shown'in Figures 2 andl3, the thoroughly prepared mixture 1 within the same dmnping into the hopper 36: provided-for this-purpose,-it:being noted in this connection that guide pulleys-37 are prefe1'ably:aiii; ed-to the carriage 11, and constitute bearing;points'- for the cable 25' whenthe: troughilj lis tilted.

Thus it will :be i seen that the steps-"of'nri' processset fortlr-inthe .first paragraph of the specification proper are accomplished.

and a return of the partsto their normal position may be effected by simply slacking the cable 23, the force of gravity-acting immediately upon the ca-lriage' ll'andparts supported thereby, causing the carriage to move-downwardly, the-trough member. :14 to swing. upwardly so that the :hooks. 18 i engage the stub shafts 17- and again rock the trough with respect to the carriagew it. is to be: understood'lhat the carriage is increasingly elevatedas the higher the linished work progresses and-also-that ftl're'ingredients should'be stirred to exactly-a predetermined extent,-to achieve a finished mix.- ture possessing just the proper consistency and with-a vieivlof accomplishing this. at-

tention is invited to Figures 3,4,v7- and 8.

To properly identify. the position of the elevating cables necessary to accomplish the result desired,- in the erection of the building 38, the three floors illustrated in this buildthebuilding 38. I If the same arrangement of elevating cablewere resorted to in the elevat-ing and dumping ofthe hopper in the plane ofthe floor 7,-the rotation imparted to the paddle 2l would be insuflicient, while the 'rot'ation of the paddle which would oc- -cu'1-I'upon the hopper reaching the plane of floor 8 would result in a-mixture of deficient qualities; I

extreme Thus if the hopper is to discharge a correct mixture-at the elevation. occupied by floor 7, the-cable 25, although having its ends attached to the elevating drums 24 does not-have its :body passing directly over the pulleys :26, but ispassed around a pulley 39 securedito the upper end of the carriage l1.

This'\\-'-ill'-'obviouslyresult in a decrease of the speed of elevation although the. speed of'the pull upon the cable 231is maintained constant, and thusan equal amount'of rotations will be imparted to the paddle 2-1 upon the trough moving' to the plane occupied by floor 7, as would be the case if the said trough weremoved to floor 4, according 'to the previous disposition of the cable 25,

it being also noted that the ratio of the number of rotations remains constant to the time consumed in the elevating of the hopper, although the speed of elevation is decreased.

Thus,-first the amount of time necessary for the preparation, and second the exact til amount of stirring necessary for the preparation-of this-mixture are maintained constant, irrespective of the height to which thetroughis to be elevated before its contents are discharged, in this connection attention being invited to Figure 8, it being noted that the same disposition of the elevating cable 25 corresponds in all particulars to the arrangement illustrated in F igure 7, with the exception that in addition to passing around the pulley 39. the cable is further passed around the pulley atfixed to the upper end of the frame work 10, this arrangement being necessary where the floor 8 is under construction, it being seen that this disposition of the parts will again result in a decrease in the speed of elevation on the part of the trough, although the number of rotations imparted to the paddle 21 will remain constant, and the time consumed between the initial li't'ting of the trough and the dumping of the contents therefrom will also remain equal.

Also itwill he obviously understood that it the dumping operation is to occur m adriferent plane that the track member and the steps 31 and 32'are moved ,to corresponding' positions upon the framework 10.

From the foregoing it will beunderstood that the process utilized together with the apparatus specified constitutes a decided advance in the art in that prin'iarily the amount of handling and the opera-tors necencylwhich isneeessa-ry for uniform construction, this beingtrue irrespective of the height of thestructure beingbuilt and the consequent. elevation to :which the trough must be moved before its contents are 'dumped, ,1

It will be understood that modifications of structure of the apparatus and steps in the processmay be varied without departing from the scope of my claims, which are;

1. A process for preparinga cementitious mixture which-includes the placing ot-suitable ingredients into a receptacle, simultaneously elevating said receptacle and stirring the contents automatically at an intermittently increasing speed.

2. A process for preparing a cementitious mixture'which includes the placing of suitable ingredients into a receptacle, simultaneously elevating said receptacle and stirring the contents automatically at an intermittently increasing speed, and introducing fluid into said receptacle at a predetermined point in the elevation of said receptacle.

A process for preparing a eementitious mixture which includes the placing of suitable ingredients into a receptacle, simultaneously elevating said receptacle, stirring the contents thereof automatically atan intermittently increasing speed, introducing fluid into said receptacle at a predetermined point in the elevation of said receptacle, and automatically dumping said receptacle when the ingredients of said mixture have been thoroughly connningleda 4. The process of producing a cementitious mixture consisting of assembling the ingredients of the building material, conveying said ingredients to the point of pouring, mixing the ingredients during conveyance and increasing the speed of mixing as the point of pouring is approached, and introducing fluid in a spray to said material after a predetermined period of conveyance and continuing for a determined period thereafter.

5. The process of producing a cementiltll) tious mixture 'consistin of assem'bling the" ingredients-of-the--building materiahr'z cons i veying the 'materials to the point of pour-f ing,- 'mixing the ingredients 'duringthe entire period -of: conveyance and flvith rinereasij dg =as the point-of pouring is ap preached, locating a. quantity iof 'rfiuid Bin readiness for introduction: '--to the said ma terial, and introducing saidgflu'id linto said 1 material in' a spray beginning at the *prede termined period ofconveyance and ending with the exhaustion of the fiuid-supplyx- (if ii method of producing a cementitious mixture consisting of assembling the ingreclients of the building material, conveying said material to the point of pouring, mixing the material during the entire period of conveyancev and with increasing speed as the point of pouring is approached, disposing a quantity of fluid substantially coextensively with at least one dimension of the assembled material, and introducing said fluid in a spray into said material coexten sively thereof as aforesaid beginning at a predetermined period of conveyance and ending with the exhaustion of the fluid supply.

7. Apparatus of the character described comprising a frame, a carriage movable on the frame, a trough mounted on the carriage, a paddle operable in the trough for mixing material, stub shafts carrying the paddle and extending from the trough, a hook mounted on the carriage engaging a stub shaft to hold the trough in a predetermined position said hook having an extended shank, a Water tank above the trough having a valve with a handle, a primary stop on the frame adapted to engage the handle to open the valve after a predetermined movement of the carriage on the frame, and a second stop on the frame adapted to engage the extended shank of the hook to release the stub and permit the trough to dump.

8. Apparatus of the character described comprising a frame, a carriage movable on the frame, a trough mounted on the carriage, a paddle situated in the trough for mixing material having stub shafts projecting from the trough, a hook mounted on the carriage engaging a stub shaft to hold the trough in apredetermined position said hook having a shank extending to one side of the frame, a Water tank mounted on the carriage above the trough, a valve for the tank having a handle extending to the opposite side of the carriage, a primary stop located in one position on the frame to be engaged by the handle for the opening of the valve and the discharge of water at a predetermined time in the movements of the carriage on the frame, and a secondary stop in another position on the frame to be enga ed by the extended shank of the hook '9; -.-A ppa-ratus; of f the characteri describedv comprising a:--vfranie,'i'a'-. carriage-movable on the frame, a niixi'ngi trough-mounted on the.

carriage, a water :tank: supported'rby Ethecarriage above the trough, a perforated pipe 7 beneath: the tank substantially coextensi ve with'the width: of the trough, a valve adapted to controlitheflow, of.=water to the pipe having 'azasstem extending -:'into proximity with th framefahandle Onlth stein, andia stop L-carriedaibyi the frameaadapted to be engaged by the handle to open the valve when the carriage has moved a predetermined distance on the frame.

10. Apparatus of the character described comprising a frame, a carriage movable on the frame, a trough, stub shafts extending from the trough, a shaft mounted on the carriage having links engaging the shafts to swingably support the trough on the carriage, and hooks pivotally mounted on the carriage adapted also to engage the stub shafts to keep the trough in a predetermined position.

11. Apparatus of the character described comprising a frame, a carriage movable on the frame, a trough, stub shafts extending from the trough, a shaft mounted on the carriage having links engaging the shafts to swingably support the trough on the carriage, hooks pivotally mounted on the carriage adapted also to engage the stub shafts to keep the trough in a predetermined position, means on the frame adapted to be engaged by portions of said hooks to release the trough for swinging, and means carried by the frame being then adapted to swing said trough and links on the shaft to dump the contents.

12. Apparatus of the character described comprising a frame, a carriage movable on the frame, a trough having stub shafts extending therefrom, a shaft mounted on the carriage having links engaging the stub shafts to swingably support the troughs on the carriage, hooks pivoted on the carriage engaging the stub shafts to sustain the trough in a predetermined position, said hooks having extending shanks, stops on the frame adapted to be engaged by said shanks to lift the hooks and release the stub shafts, dumping means extending from the frame including upper rails, and rollers carried by the trough adapted to engage said rails to swing the trough and links on said shaft to dump the contents.

13. Apparatus of the character described comprising a frame including rails, a carriage adapted to move on the rails, a trough having stub shafts, a shaft mounted on the carriage having links engaging the stub shafts to support the trough, hooks mounted on the carriage also engaging the stub shafts-and holding them and the troughs,

at one side of the rails, a drum fixed on one stub shaft having the coils of a power cable wound thereon, a smaller drum fixed to a stub shaft having an end of a hoisting cable fixed thereto, a ;pulley over-which said cable passes at the top of the frame, and means on the frame-adapted to lift the hooks-to =release-vthe stub shafts permitting the trough to 'swing'on said shaft to-a discharging posicomprising a frame having rails, a carriage having rollers adapted to run on the rails, a trough supported by the carriage, means by which the trough is swingably mounted off center in respect to the frame, hoisting cables running to said off-centered trough and being adapted at a predetermined time to swing the trough into a discharging posi-- tion, and guide pulleys affixed to the carriage situated in positions to receive the hoisting.

cables and form bearing points therefor when the trough is tilted.

VICTOR. H. SOHLIGH. 

